Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was the host of the First Symposium of Psychiatrists of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Turkey which was held on Saturday, September 14th, 2013 in thebeautiful centrally located hotel “Europe”. It is a first scientific event jointly organized by the Psychiatric Association of Bosnia-Herzegovina (PABH) and the Turkish Association for Psychopharmacology (TAP) after theestablishmentof active cooperationbetweenthe two Associations in January 2013. A full-daySymposiumwith the logo“Let’s share and havemore!”was attended by over200 participants(58psychiatristsfrom Turkeyandmore than 150 participantsfrom the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina).

Words of gratitudefor the hospitalityon behalf ofcolleaguesfrom Turkeyand TAP leadershipwere pronounced by Prof. H.Savas, and presented also an impressive development, activities andinternational collaborationsof TAP from 2005. The PABH President Prof. Dragan Babić welcomed colleagues from Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina and openedthe Symposium while Dr. Goran Račetović, PABH Secretary General presented to participants the first five years of activities of our Association.

The scientific part of the Symposium was divided into two parts. In the first sessiontitled“Psychotraumatology: our experiences”,lecturers from Bosnia and Herzegovina and PABH(Prof.A.Kučukalić, Prof. M.Burgić-Radmanovic, Prof. I.Pajevićand Prof.D.Babic) presented always actual themes of thepsychotraumatisationandpost-traumatic stressdisorder inchildren andadults from the perspective of the experiencesand research fromour country. In the second session, “Psychopharmacology:quovadis?”prominent Turkishexperts(Prof.F.Arıcıoğlu, Prof. Prof.Ö. Uzun, Prof. İ.Yargıçand Prof. H.Savaş) presented themodernaspects andcurrent data onpsychopharmacologicalapproach tothe most importantpsychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, depressionand bipolardisorder.Together withtheir Turkishcolleagues, chairsof these sessionsfromBosnia and Herzegovina wereAcademicianS.Logaand Prof.S.Fišeković.BothsessionsprovokedinterestinTurkish andlocal expertsin the fieldof mental health followed byintensivescientific discussions. At theend of the dayagala dinnerwas hosted at the hotel“Europe”witha rich musical and cultural program. This very important international symposium was fully supported by the company Nobel Ilaç.

As a continuationofactivecooperation between ourAssociations, professors from Bosnia and Herzegovinawill belecturersat the upcoming5thInternational Congress onPsychopharmacologyin Antalya (Turkey), organized by TAP.Alsothe desireto continue with our joint eventsin the coming yearswashighlighted, as well as jointappearances atregional andinternational conferences.

Dragan Babić, President

Goran Račetović, Secretary General

Psychiatric Association of Bosnia-Herzegovina

Captions:A group of delegates who attended the Symposium in September 2013.